


i'm a six and he's a ten

by lashtouns



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-27
Updated: 2014-10-27
Packaged: 2018-02-22 18:55:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2518253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lashtouns/pseuds/lashtouns
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>his eyes look like the ocean and calum wants to swim in it for eternity.</p><p>or, the one where calum has a tendency to not look where he's going and it finally works out in his favor for once.</p>
            </blockquote>





	i'm a six and he's a ten

It happens accidentally.

Calum wasn’t watching where he was going and now he’s on the ground and so is a complete stranger, and he doesn’t know what’s worse — the fact that they’re literally sprawled out on the middle of a busy sidewalk or the fact that he’s now got coffee all over his term paper. He gets up hastily and stares down at the essay, a defeated look on his face as his mood goes from bitter to accepting because honestly, he hated that class anyway. He turns, ready to apologize but finds that the stranger is no longer splayed out beside him.

“Where did..." And then he sees it. The hand that's extended right in front of his face. It's big, and judging by the mere appearance of it, it's a boy's hand. There's a little ring around his pinky finger and Calum almost laughs. It's kind of cute. He stifles his chuckle and takes it, exhaling in relief as he's boosted up by the stranger. Brushing off the back of his jeans, he looks up, ready to finally apologize for running straight into him and causing the collision in the first place.

Again, he stops. Calum's taken aback by the boy — just as tall as he is, if not an inch or two more. His hair is golden and styled up in that same quiff that every douche bag in the world he knows has, but this time it doesn't make him want to throw himself off a cliff. The boy has his bottom lip pierced. He's thin and lanky, but his arms are fairly nice and my  _god,_ he's got beautiful eyes. They're the clearest shade of blue and Calum is vaguely reminded of the summer holidays a few years back. His eyes look like the ocean and Calum wants to swim in it for eternity.

He clears his throat and snaps out of his trance. The boy is blushing, his cheeks tinged with a soft rosy pink. Calum is suddenly very aware of the fact that he'd been staring and probably made him uncomfortable.  _Shit_ , he thinks to himself. Out loud, he blurts, "I'm so sorry, oh my god. I'm really clumsy and I honestly should have been looking but I was in a rush and now I'm late, but I just realized that I hate that class anyway and I'll probably just ditch it now so  _really_ I totally bumped into you for nothing and..."

Calum trails off when the boy finally raises his eyes to meet his own and  _okay_ , he thinks he might just shit himself right then and there. This guy is fucking glorious and it's so dumb how awestricken he's become in a matter of like, five seconds. "I'm sorry." He repeats, feeling his cheeks heat up. The boy smiles. It's a bashful smile, and Calum can tell. He wants to kiss it off him, but he doesn't. 

"Don't worry about it, I saw you coming and honestly, I could have moved out of the way but I didn't. Not all your fault, it's chill." His voice nearly has Calum on the ground for the second time in the last five minutes. Just the way he  _speaks_ is so nice. He must be staring again because the boy fidgets and looks over his shoulder before shooting him a small grin. "I've got somewhere to be. Sorry again." Calum can't even think of something to say before the boy falls into step with the crowd of people headed down the sidewalk, and he stares in the direction that the blonde is headed, afraid that if he blinks he'll disappear.

Either way, he's lost in the crowd within seconds.

* * *

 So it turns out that the boy is Calum's new neighbor. Go figures.

He realizes it when there's a knock on his front door. He's just gotten out of the shower and is casually strolling about naked with his dick flopping about. In his haste to wrap his towel around his waist, he trips and hits his face against the door. Prying it open with one hand and rubbing his now hurt nose, Calum blinks, a look of surprise crossing his face as he recognizes the same features that have been haunting him all afternoon.

The blonde's gaze is trained on the floor, and he looks up at an agonizingly slow pace, his eyes trailing up Calum's body as he does so. They're both blushing when their eyes meet. "Um," now it's the stranger who is at a loss for words. If it was anyone else, Calum would have smirked. But right now he's trying his hardest not to throw up. "I'm Luke. I just... I just moved in down the hall. I thought it would be a good idea to make a pact with my neighbors."

Calum's heart is leaping because wow, now he finally has a name to match a face and shit, Luke's fucking adorable. "A pact?" He questions in response, letting his hand fall from his face as he moves to adjust his towel now. It's slipping from his hips and dear god, he isn't about to do something embarrassing even if he kind of,  _sort of_ wouldn't mind being naked in a room alone with this boy. 

Luke's face reddens once more. "Yeah," he breathes, "you know, like if I come knocking on your door at midnight, you'd let me in or something." Calum chuckles, leaning against the threshold. He quirks an eyebrow and crosses his arms across his bare chest. He nearly misses the way Luke's eyes wander down to his arms and linger on the tattoos across his body. "Why would you do that, though?" He questions curiously.

"I'm scared of someone robbing me. Or breaking into my apartment and like, you know, murdering me." He squeaks out quietly, nervously rubbing at his arm. Calum is about to weep over how fucking cute that is. But he snorts, shaking his head at the boy. "You'll be fine, but if that happens, my apartment door's always open for you." He smirks now, catching the way Luke's face has suddenly become an even deeper shade of red. 

"Okay. Thank you." 

Calum goes to close the door. He isn't entirely satisfied with such a short conversation, but he's nearly naked, and if he's going to be talking with this dream boy any longer, he wants to at least be clothed. But Luke pokes his head in before Calum can shut the door any further. 

"You didn't tell me your name." And again, there's a blush present on his face. He mumbles the five letter word, shoots Luke a smile, and waves goodbye as the blonde retreats down the hallway at last.

Calum locks the door the minute he sees him disappear into what's most likely his apartment. He looks down and groans at the bulge that's grown underneath his towel. His new neighbor will be the death of him.

* * *

Bumping into each other in the middle of sidewalks has become a regular thing. This time, Calum isn't headed anywhere in particular. He's just on a walk. Luke is coming home from his job at the local bookstore and carrying a large pile of old reading material that nearly blocks out his line of vision. Calum couldn't even tell it was him at first.

But then he notices the skinny legs poking out from the bottom of the pile, and then Luke trips over a stone and goes flying on the pavement. Calum pulls him to his feet and sends him a cheeky grin. "Watch it, Luke," he jokes, bending over to pick up as many discarded novels as he can. Luke is a mess of stuttering and blushing, but he doesn't mind. They decide to split the pile evenly so that both can see where they're walking, and Calum accompanies him back home so he isn't stuck looking like a nerd on his own. 

Luke can't get his keys out of his pocket once they reach the apartment door, and after silently cursing to himself, Calum places his books down on the floor and reaches to tug them out of the pocket himself. He blushes. His fingers have just accidentally brushed across the blonde's bum, and now he's fumbling around to unlock the door and pick the books back up off the ground. 

They wind up dumping them carelessly on Luke's couch, and Luke thanks Calum for helping him out. Cal just shrugs. He goes to leave, figuring that his invitation has been revoked when he nearly groped the boy's ass. Luke steps in his way and envelops him into a hug. "What's this for?" The raven-haired boy questions curiously. He's screaming on the inside and wants to cry because wow, the boy he has a stupid school girl crush on has just physically touched him.

"I dunno, really." Luke looks nervous now, like he's just made the biggest mistake of his life and he's trying to find a way to get himself out of it. Calum opens his mouth to speak, but he's cut off as Luke continues on with talking. "You just. I don't know. You're just nice. I figured I'd hug you to let you know, like,  _hey_ , you're nice, let's be friends."

Calum should be pleased. Instead, he's kind of hurt. Was he just friendzoned? Okay, maybe he wasn't, and maybe he shouldn't be upset since this is only like, the third time they've spoken and Luke has only known him for like a grand total of  _three days._ But he's still kind of offended. He smiles regardless. Luke invites him to watch movies on Netflix and they share a bag of popcorn.

He kind of wishes Luke would have just put it all into a bowl because his hand keeps brushing against his whenever they reach for the bag, and then Luke smiles, and then Calum wants to cry. He leaves two hours later. 

In the middle of the night, Luke knocks on his door. "Did you get robbed?" Calum asks sleepily, not even caring about the fact that he's wearing nothing but his boxers. Luke doesn't seem to care about it either, only shuffles in to the apartment with his dumb penguin slippers and the big gray blanket that's draped over his shoulders. "No... I just. I had a bad dream."

And that's how Calum winds up staying awake all night with Luke on top of his sofa, playing an entire seasons worth of  _How I Met Your Mother_ just to get the blonde to cheer up. 

When morning comes, Luke is gone. Calum feels worse than he did when Luke friendzoned him the day before.

* * *

Two months.

Two long months go by since that night, and Calum still hasn't seen Luke. He hears his footsteps padding along on his way to his apartment, but when opens the door and sticks his head out to greet the boy, he's already gone inside. They don't run into each other on the streets anymore. And Calum is still thinking about him. He's literally never been so whipped for someone he hardly knows. His friend Ashton from school manages to drag him out of the apartment complex one night, and suddenly, Calum's drowning himself in shots and whining about life to anyone who will listen.

"Have you ever just like," he hiccups, a soft giggle slipping from his lips. "Like, been  _so_ attracted to someone? But they're way out of your league and then they just stop talking to you and you're so  _whipped_ but you can't stop thinking about them." 

Calum isn't speaking to anyone in particular. He's just laying with his cheek pressed against the side of the countertop and his hand wrapped loosely around a shot glass. He isn't expecting anyone to really reply. But then someone does. "Yeah. That's me, right now actually. Only I'm kind of the one at fault here." 

He snorts. Calum fucking snorts. He's too drunk to care about hurting someone's feelings, and he points his finger at the stranger without really opening his eyes. "You're fucking with someone's mind right now, go make it up to them. Don't be an asshole." Five minutes pass without a word, and Calum lifts his head and his eyes flutter open.

"Luke?" He blinks in surprise, suddenly feeling much more sober. The blonde is equally surprised, though he's definitely not buzzed at all. Calum is whipped. He immediately wants to apologize, but he doesn't. Because he's so fucked for Luke. And he hates it.

Luke backs away. He looks down. And _he_ apologizes.

"I'm always really nervous around you. Two months, I've noticed. I was just trying to figure out if it's because you scare me or because I like you, or because _I'm scared of you because I like you._ " 

Calum is wasted, and he can't tell if this is a real thing, but he's stumbling out of the bar and he can hear Luke following after him. He can't drive, he knows that much. But he can walk, and though that's the dumbest idea in the world, Calum wants to go home and hide for the rest of his life.

He trips and falls down halfway across the parking lot.

Luke is picking him up and setting him down in his car, he buckles his seatbelt and drives him back to their apartment building.

Calum hasn't spoken a word. 

And then he does.

"So what is it?"

Luke is confused. "What is what?" He doesn't know what he means. It's literally been about an hour without talking, and he has no idea what Calum could possibly have on his mind.

"What is it? Is it because you're scared of me? Because you like me?"

He falls silent, and the quiet consumes the both of them all over again. When Luke carries him into his apartment, he sets Calum down on his bed and undresses him. The skinny jeans look like they'd be painful to wake up in. He wraps the boy up in his blanket and gives him one last look before pressing his lips to his forehead. 

"I like you."

Calum hears him.

* * *

The morning after, Luke is still there. He's curled up on Calum's couch when he comes stumbling in, exhausted with his head pounding. He briefly remembers the night before. Sitting on the edge of the sofa and poking at the boy's leg, he shoots him the tiniest of smiles. 

"Hey."

Luke yawns. He looks like a kitten, and Calum still thinks he's beautiful.

He's grateful that Luke actually stayed this time, despite the fact that he was probably just making sure he didn't puke all over himself. 

But either way, he appreciates him. He winds up cooking them both breakfast and they wind up watching movies into the late afternoon. Calum's hangover is mostly gone by the time that Luke decides he should probably head back to his own place and get ready for work.

They make their way to the door and Calum grabs his hand before he can leave. 

He isn't sure what's clicked in him, but it's been two months, and all he's wanted from the very first day was to kiss him and now he's going to do it. And fuck, is that feeling the best thing in the entire world.

Luke's lips are warm and soft and he can taste the hot chocolate that he had made for him on them. They stay like that for a moment, pressed up against each other in the doorway. They're just kissing and it's completely normal, as if they've done it millions of times before, only they haven't. But it feels so natural, and Calum is relieved because shit, Luke wants it just as much as he does.

The sound of someone clearing their throat forces them apart, and a blush creeps onto both of their faces as they spot their elderly neighbor passing through down the hall. She waves her hand behind her head at them. "All of the neighbors were betting on how long it would take for you to get together." She calls, her sweet voice tinged with a soft giggle as she enters her own apartment.

Calum can't help but laugh. He gently pushes Luke out the door. 

"You're going to be late to work. And by the way, I like you too."

**Author's Note:**

> so i ended up deleting my other story, which makes me feel horrible, but i've just come to the realization that i'm awful with keeping up inspiration for multiple chapter fics. maybe i'll try it another time. i'm sorry guys //:


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